The article analyzes the letters of M. Y. Lermontov to M. A. Shan-Girey, S. N. Bakhmeteva and M. A. Lopukhina in the aspect of the poet's autocomments to his own works, inscribed in the epistolary text. On the basis of the study, the thesis is formulated that over time, Lermontov's strategies for representing his own image and lyrical texts in the space of personal correspondence change: from direct youthful admiration for his works, he moves to deliberate “belittling” his texts and “playing” with the addressee. At the same time, the poet's desire to inscribe the work into the context of the lyrical situation, modeled by the space of the epistolary, remains unchanged, which was often the reason for the modification of the poetic texts themselves.